Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

2004 Category 2: Australia
Asia and the Pacific
Australia
2004 Category 2 Winner
Stronger Accountability and Professionalism in Financial
and Personnel Management in Australian Public Service
Australian Public Service Commission, Australia
Description
Modernizing the public service by creating an employment framework that
enhances accountability and promotes excellence in the public sector.
The Problem
The major challenge of the government was to increase efficiency, transparency and
effectiveness of the public service.
The Solution
The Australian Government embarked on a “major re-conceptualisation of the role of
government”. New Public Management was the guiding theory adopted by the government
to reinvent itself, especially in light of pressures exerted by the rapid pace of
technological advances, as well as ensuing economic, social and political changes.
National institutions were expected to be agile, flexible and innovative in order to
accommodate these changes. Within this context, the Australian Public Service Commission
took a leading role in a range of supportive initiatives to create a public service
system that is robust and sustainable. Among its initiatives, it reinforced the
devolution of authority enacted by previous administrations and emphasized the importance
of accountability, capacity building and promotion of excellence in the public
sector.
In 1996, the Federal Government entrusted the Commission with the responsibility
of promoting a public service employment framework that would engender public
confidence in public administration. After an extensive review, in 1999, the Commission
developed and implemented the Public Service Act, which provided for
increased devolution and flexibility of APS agencies, balanced by accountability
within a clearly defined set of shared APS Values and a Code of Conduct for all
APS employees.
The Public Service Act reinforced the devolution of authority brought about by previous
financial and personnel management reforms and provided the flexibility and
agility needed for a strongly performing public service. It also promoted stronger
accountability and ensured continued professionalism and enhanced capacities. Each
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